Apple, the Apple engineer, Gizmodo, and the Gizmodo journalist are all at fault.

Apple for allowing non-disclosure agreements to be violated
The engineer for violating non-disclosure
Gizmodo for allowing the article to be published
Gizmodo journalist for obtaining the device and discussing it publicly

I think it is dangerous to justify the act due to the poor security of the device. Lifelock is a pretty good example, but a better analogy would be a woman that dresses provocatively and is subsequently raped (please forgive the graphic nature of my example).

Perhaps the woman was inappropriately dressed, but in no way does that does justify the act of rape. I think stating that "she got what she deserved" is a poor argument, and it certainly wouldn't hold up in a court of law.

If you and I possessed stolen prototypes and were blogging about them, the only person speaking up for us would be our attorneys.

I respectfully disagree with Leo's point about shield laws should have prevented the seizure from taking place. Shield laws are to protect journalists from having to reveal sources of information, not to allow them to obtain pre-released product without permission of the manufacturer.

That being said, I don't know that proper procedure was followed in the collection of the evidence. I'm certain that Gizmodo's attorneys are doing everything possible to identify any irregularities to have any criminal charges or civil case dismissed. I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if they do identify multiple problems with the way the authorities managed the collection of evidence.

Shield laws may be able to protect the party that provided the device, as authorities should not be allowed to identify that party via interrogation of the journalist. However, it does not protect the journalist from sharing (potential) trade secrets with the public without authorization.

In this particular case, the consequences of what transpired are far from dire, in terms of damages to Apple for several reasons:

It probably did more good than harm by generating additional excitement for the product release.
As Louis stated, the fact that it is a new release of an existing product line further dilutes any problems Apple would face from the early release of the information.
The timeframe for the release of the product is relatively short.

Regardless, Gizmodo (or any journalist or blogger) does not have the right to obtain pre-released product without permission from the manufacturer, much less publicly discuss and review it.

I do agree that the majority of bloggers out there defending Apple are doing so blindly, and are loyal members of the Church of Jobs. They simply stand in line behind all of the other lemmings rather than give any sort of independent or intelligent thought to what has transpired, allowing their loyalty to turn a blind eye to any irregularities that may have taken place in the investigation.

First of all, let me preface my comment by stating I am by no means an Apple fanboy. If you ask me, a Mac is nothing more than an attractive (and very expensive) PC that runs a superior operating system.

I agree with Louis in that Gizmodo is at fault for possession of a device that was obtained illegally. I'm a bit surprised that no one has really spoken to the fact that there is also another party that is equally at fault, that being the individual(s) that provided the device to Gizmodo. An Apple employee(s) or contractor(s) likely provided the device in the first place, as I doubt someone from Gizmodo (or someone on their behalf) entered an Apple facility and took it.

In any case, the fact remains that Gizmodo obtained a device not meant for the public, and for that they should be held accountable. Fanboy or not, I think it is difficult to dispute that fact. Whether or not proper procedure was followed in seizing the evidence, I hope due process is served. Gizmodo should not get away with having broken the law just because law enforcement failed to properly obtain evidence.

I see you saved the best for last. :) Thanks for the mention! I don't think I've seen such a complete prediction list.

I don't think I could ever possibly name a favorite video game of all time. I think the original NES would have to be my favorite console, because it conjures many fond memories of my childhood.

Well, I looked at the code for the ratings Friend Connect gadget to see if I could transform it to remove the comment functionality. There doesn't seem to be an API for Friend Connect and the friendconnect.js file is obfuscated/compressed JavaScript. The ratings gadget is invoked by a method within the friendconnect.js file, rather than loading from a separate XML file that contains the gadget (as iGoogle gadgets do). They do have a sample OpenSocial gadget and you can see the XML file used to render it. Unfortunately, at the moment I'm too lazy to build a gadget from scratch. It doesn't seem like it's gonna happen any time soon since I can't reverse engineer it.

Damn, why do you have to go and create work for me like that. :-D Actually, that is a pretty good idea. I'll have to take a look at the Friend Connect API and see what I can do.

Very nice. I'm gonna have to set this up on my site too. The only thing with the ratings deal is that it introduces redundancy with the comments.

(Just scroll up and look for the exact same comment I posted above. :-D)

Some other things one might want to take into consideration are occupation, future marital status, and procreation.

Occupation
When I was in college, I never bought a console although I considered myself a hardcore gamer. Besides, there was always someone I knew with the latest and greatest console. Why buy one when I could just go over to Johnny's and play?

Marital Status
Prior to my marriage, I was a hardcore gamer, but then I got married. I went from hardcore gamer to a semi-casual online gamer.

Procreation
Then we had kids and now I'm all the way on the other end of the spectrum as a casual gamer.

It won't be long before you can quit your day job. I showed it to Sheila and she said that you totally got her into the holiday spirit.